Brush and method of making same



Dec. 30, 1941. A. E. USHAKOFF 2,267,850

BRUSH AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Nov. 6, 193 9 Patented Dec. 30, 1941 "Alexis E. Ushakofi, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough o1- Flemington, N. J.,

Jersey a corporation of New Application November 6, 1939, Serial No. 302,985

' 1o Claims. (01. 300-21) This invention relates to brushes and methods of making them and is herein illustrated by way of example as embodied in a rotary brush adapted to be mounted on a shaft. 7

In the present commercial methods or manufacturing brushes 9. large amount of hand work is required, particularly to insert the bristles in wire brushes and to fasten them securely. A large partof this hand work is due to the fact Fig. 2 illustrates a'section of the bristle element after winding and after the lacing strand has been passed through the bristle holder;

Fig. 3 shows the fastening of the ends of, the

bristle holder and of the lacing strand together to form an annulus; I

Fig. 4 illustrates the cutting of the ends of the loops of bristlematerial and the flattening of the bristle holder;

that the bristles are cut to approximate length Fig. 5 is a cross section of the completedbrush before being inserted inthe holder and consequently must be handled in small bundles. In view of the expense entailed it is desirable to avoid this manual work.

It is desirable to pack the bristles close together so that a densely filled brush with the maximum brushing action may be obtained. It has heretofore been difilcult to do this without increasing to an undesirable extent the thickness of the brush in the region where the bristles are secured.. In the attempt to secure a densely filled brush, however, the necessity of fastening the bristles solidly and of permitting enough freedom of movement or breathing space between the bristles so that they will not be subiect to fatigu and will not break too easily must not be lost sight of.

With these considerations in view it is an ob ject of the present invention to provide an improved method of manufacturing brushes which will eliminate much hand work,'will enable the bristle material to be handled in its original form as a continuous strand, and will produce a well made brush with closely packed bristles.

In practicing my new method I preferably attach a helically coiled bristle holder to a rotatable mandrel which is outside the coils of the holder, temporarily secure a continuous strand of bristle material to the mandrel and wind it terial about the mandrel and bristle holder;'

Y in the holder. For this purpose, one end 20 of a continuous strand 22 ofbristle material is temterial may be of wire or any type ofsy nthetic'] bility ofv their falling out. To accomplish this a] lacing strand 24 is passed through the bristle parallel to its axis of rotation are fastened :two

pins 14 and a bristle holder 16 is stretched between-them. Th bristle holder is made in the shape of a helical coil so that itresemblesa spiral spring, hooks I8 being. provided on either end to attach it to the pins, This holder may advantageously be made of spring wire so that it may be extended and slipped over the pins in expanded condition. J

The next step is to insert the bristle material porarily fastened to the pin it. The bristle mafiber which is obtainable in long strands or coils. The mandrel I0 is rotated so that the bristle material 22 is wound or looped about the mandrel and the bristle holder between the con lutions 3 of the latter. If desired, a number of strands may be wound simultaneously, thus speeding up the operation considerably.

Preferably the space between two adjacent I I coils of the holder will be filled before any maabout the mandrel and holder between the con- .terial is wound into the space between the next" volutions of the latter, then pass a lacing strand.

two coils. "The tensionunder which the bristle material is wound will, of course, vary, with the character of the. material and the nature oi. the

brush.

After all the spaces between the convolutions tle material may then belocked'in the bristle.

holder in such a manner that there is no possiholder as indicated in Fig. 1 so that the loops 26 of thebristle material are secured'b etween the placing, strand and the coils of the bristle holder adjacent to the mandrel.

It is now possible to remove the partially completed brush from the mandrel without danger of the bristles falling out of the holder. This is accomplished by sliding the portion 28 of the split mandrel out from the coils of the bristle material. It is then a simple matter to free the hooks l8 of the bristle holder from the pins [4. permitting the spring holder to clamp or grip the bristle material; and to remove the other portion of the mandrel. The brush is now in the condition shown in Fig. 2.

It is obvious that the steps thus far described are equally applicable to a straight brush or to a circular brush of the rotary type. If a circular brush is being made, the next step is to fasten the hooks l8 on the ends of the bristle holder together. This may advantageously be done by passing the hooks I8 through one another and then closing them to form loops or, if preferred, the hooks may be welded, soldered, or otherwise secured together. The ends 30 of the lacing strand will also be fastened together, for exam-L ple, by' twisting them as shown in Fig.3 or by soldering or welding. If-a straight brush is 'be ing made, the above described step should be omitted and the lacing strands will in such case simply be fastened to the hooks on the bristle isplaced on a die block 34. A die 36 having a] centering boss 38 and a bristle trimming knife A is then forced down against the annulus, thereby flattening the loops 26, severing their ends to form double ended bristles, and also compressing the coils of the bristle holder. Ifthe bristle holder is made of spring material it will be found that the pressure of the die 36 will cause the coils of the bristle holder to tip and overlap one another to form what may be called an 'offset helix rather than to flatten out." In such case the bristles on the opposite sides of the brush" will tend to point in opposite directions'rather than lying straight along aradius of the annulus.

With the bristles held in this position it Will be the annulus 32 and the completed brush will then have a much softer actionr The brush is now ready to be mounted upon its carrier. flange 44 against which the side of the annulus is placed. A loosely fitting collar 46 is then slippedover the hub and held there by a second collar 48 threaded on the hub 42 in a position to clamp the bristles and bristle holder; The flange 44 and the collar 46 act to hold the brush and bristles against the action of centrifugal force when the brush is rotated, and provide addition al support for the bristles when the brushis used. 2

In some cases where exceptionally fine work is desired it may be found desirable to trim off and even the cut ends of the bristles. In the case of a wire brush this may advantageously be done,

This may be a hub 42 having "a as shown in Fig. 6, by rotating the brush against an abrading wheel 50 of emery or similar material which is turning in the opposite direction to insure that the brush will be perfectly circular. It is to be noted that if the rotary brush is to be used on a hub mounted between bearings in such a'fashion that it is inconvenient to slip the annulus over the end of the shaft, the fastening together of the ends of the bristle holder and of the lacing strand may be deferred until the bristle element has been placed on the shaft.

A brush made. according to the above-describedmethocl will be found to be very satisfactory in operation since the bristles are permanently secured in the bristle holder and cannot be thrown out by centrifugal force. In addition the bristle holder takes up only a small amount of space and adds very little weight to the brush.

It is to be understood that the order of steps inthe manufacture of this brush may be varied considerably without departing from the invention and some of the steps may be omitted. For example, the grinding of the ends of the bristles may be done before the brush is clamped in the hub or itmay be entirely omitted. The loops 26 of bristle material may becut and the bristle holder flattened before the 'ends of the holder Having thus described my invention," what'I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: f v 1. Afmethod of making brushes which' comprises'attaching' a coiled bristle holder to a mandrelQwinding-bristle material about said mandrel and-holder between the convolutions o1 said holder, and passing a lacing strand'through said bristle holder to secure said bristle material in place. i

2. A -method of making brushes which com prises stretching a coil spring and attaching it in extended positionto a mandrel with the latter outside of the coils of the spring, looping bristle material about said spring and mandrel between the convolutions ofsaid spring, releasing said spring thereby clamping the bristle material in position, cutting the loops,"and forming the as-' sembled material into a brush. I

3. A method of 'makingbrushes whichcom prises temporarily fastening a coiled bristle hold er ona mandrel having a diameter larger'than that. or the ,coiled holder, winding bristle ma terial about said mandreland holder between the convolutions of said holder, passing a lacing strand through the coils of s'aid bristle holder to secure said bristle material in place, removing the assembled holder and bristle material'from the mandrel, and applying lateral pressure to flatten said holder and bristle material.

4. A method of making brushes; which comprises attaching. a coiled spring to oneside of I a mandrel lengthwise of said mandrelwith the latter outside the coils of the spring, rotating said mandrel and spring and winding 'a"continuous strand of said 'bristle materialabout said man drel and spring between the convolutions of said spring thereby forming bristle loops of a size determined by the diameter of the mandrel, securing said bristle material to said spring, and

-, removing the mandrel from the bristle loops] 5. A method of making brushes which comfprises attaching a bristle holder to a positioned outside of the holder, looping a continuous strand of bristle material about said holder and mandrel, fastening said bristle material in said holder while the latter is on said mandrel, removing said mandrel, and cutting the outer ends of said loops.

6. A method of making brushes which comprises attaching a helical spring to the ends of a cylindrical mandrel substantially parallel to its axis, winding a continuous strand of bristle material about said mandrel and spring between the convolutions of said spring to form a series of loops, passing a lacing wire through said spring to hold said loops in place, removing said mandrel, fastening the ends of said spring and said lacing wire together to form an annulus, cutting the outer ends of said loops, applying lateral pressure to flatten said annulus, trimming off the cut ends of said loops, and securing said annulus to a hub.

7. A brush comprising a coiled bristle holder,

bristles positioned between the convolutions of said holder, and a lacing strand passing through said holder and securing said bristles therein.

9. A brush comprising a hub, a coiled bristle holder, a plurality of bristles positioned between the convolutions of said bristle holder, a lacing strand passing through said-holder to secure said bristles therein, and flanges carried by said hub and clamping said bristles in supported position.

10. In a brush, a coiled bristle holder, bristles gripped between adjacent convolutions of said holder, and a lacing strand passing through said holder 'to secure said bristles therein.

ALEXIS E. USHAKOFF. 

